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STORY: GENEVA / SUDAN INVESTIGATOR INTERVIEW
TRT: 04:50
SOURCE: UNTV CH / FILE
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNFPA AND UNHCR FOOTAGE ON SCREEN
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 20 NOVEMBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
FILE – UNHCR – 29 OCTOBER 2024, ADRÉ SPONTANEOUS SITE, ADRE, CHAD
1. Close up, woman entering registration centre
20 NOVEMBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Mona Rishmawi, independent member of the International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan:
“Sexual violence has been rampant in Sudan for quite some time, but during this current conflict, we have seen something that I never saw before. I worked on Sudan before in the last 20 years.”
FILE – UNHCR – 28 OCTOBER 2024, ADRÉ BORDER, CHAD
3. Close up, Close up, Miryam Idriss Adam, refugee
20 NOVEMBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Mona Rishmawi, independent member of the International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan:
“I personally talk to two women myself, women and girls myself, who were subjected to sexual violence. And as I said, this is one this is a shameful story to be honest. You know, when the war is being fought on the bodies of women, that's really shameful.”
FILE – UNHCR – 29 OCTOBER 2024, ABOUTENGUÉ SITE, ADRE, CHAD
5. Med shot, refugee at health desk
20 NOVEMBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Mona Rishmawi, independent member of the International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan:
“It is very difficult to have numbers because of the stigma, because people they know the social stigma associated. Unfortunately, with this kind of practices and this kind of crimes is huge. So, people only talk about it most of the time when they have complications and complications. So, they go to the health providers, the families go to the health providers. And at that stage, we know we know the health providers are telling us that there are thousands.”
FILE – UNHCR – 28 OCTOBER 2024, ADRÉ BORDER, CHAD
7. Wide shot, women and children who have just crossed the border
20 NOVEMBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Mona Rishmawi, independent member of the International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan:
“Fear of rape leads people most of the time to leave their property and flee to another area that they think it's safe, whether inside Sudan or outside Sudan.”
FILE – UNHCR – 28 OCTOBER 2024, ADRÉ BORDER, CHAD
9. Wide shot, family on horse cart
20 NOVEMBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Mona Rishmawi, independent member of the International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan:
“So at this stage, most of the most of the humanitarian aid that is able to enter, so that is entering through this Adre crossing that was just about was allowed to open recently. I think it is still open is, but unfortunately the government is then allowed it to be open for three months only. I don't think we have current information with how it is, how it is functioning right now, but it's very important that through this every crossing is the is the way that you can go through if you want a direct line to reach these IDP camps. So this crossing has to remain open and and has to enable the humanitarian assistance to to arrive. There's also assistance from ICRC and other areas.”
FILE – UNHCR – 29 OCTOBER 2024, ADRÉ SPONTANEOUS SITE, ADRE, CHAD
11. Wide shot, families at registration centre
20 NOVEMBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Mona Rishmawi, independent member of the International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan:
“Another problem is really the criminality that is now rampant in Sudan as well. So where when the humanitarians move from one area of control to another area of control, what happened?
And the ICRC is a good example of that. People have been killed. We're just driving through some of these and some of these roads. There's bandits. There is criminality. So the situation is very, very complex, which makes reaching the needed population an extremely difficult.”
FILE – UNHCR – 29 OCTOBER 2024, ABOUTENGUÉ SITE, ADRE, CHAD
13. Med shot, health worker handing out plumpy nut
20 NOVEMBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Mona Rishmawi, independent member of the International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan:
“Food insecurity is taking place in Sudan because of the destruction of the food sources. So farmers are not able to farm their lands. They abandoned their land and there is no seeds to be planted as the water supplies is actually disrupted.”
FILE – UNFPA – 07 NOVEMBER 2024, NEW HALFA FOOTBALL STADIUM, NEW HALFA, KASSALA STATE, SUDAN
15. Wide shot, people getting water from barrels
20 NOVEMBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Mona Rishmawi, independent member of the International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan:
“In some areas of Sudan, particularly in Darfur there has been ethnic and racial tension for quite a long time. The Rapid Response Forces have been mobilizing through the so-called Arab tribes. This is in Sudan and outside Sudan, also from tribes and the neighbors, and what they have been doing, is that they've been, and we saw this very much in El Geneina and they've been targeting certain ethnic groups.”
FILE – UNFPA – 07 NOVEMBER 2024, NEW HALFA FOOTBALL STADIUM, NEW HALFA, KASSALA STATE, SUDAN
17. Various close up shot, displaced children
20 NOVEMBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Mona Rishmawi, independent member of the International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan:
“These groups lived together for a very long time. What is needed is a new social contract in Sudan, a new national dialog, a new social agreement that people can live together in harmony and respect and in dignity.”
FILE – UNHCR – 29 OCTOBER 2024, ABOUTENGUÉ SITE, ADRE, CHAD
19. Med shot, students at a school in Aboutengué
The top investigator of the Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan said the "war is being fought on the bodies of women."
Mona Rishmawi, an independent investigator of the International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan, detailed the severe humanitarian and security challenges caused by the ongoing conflict in Sudan, highlighting rampant sexual violence, food insecurity, and ethnic tensions during a briefing in Geneva.
Rishmawi said, “Sexual violence has been rampant in Sudan for quite some time, but during this current conflict, we have seen something that I never saw before. I worked on Sudan before in the last 20 years.” She described harrowing accounts from survivors, adding, “This is a shameful story to be honest. You know, when the war is being fought on the bodies of women, that's really shameful.”
Rishmawi emphasized the difficulty in obtaining accurate data due to stigma. She said,“People only talk about it most of the time when they have complications,” adding, “At that stage, we know the health providers are telling us that there are thousands.”
The fear of violence has forced many to flee their homes. Rishmawi explained, “Fear of rape leads people most of the time to leave their property and flee to another area that they think it's safe, whether inside Sudan or outside Sudan.”
Rishmawi also pointed to the challenges of delivering aid, particularly through the Adré crossing on the Chad-Sudan border. “Unfortunately, the government allowed it to be open for three months only,” she noted, urging the crossing to remain open to ensure access to displaced populations.
The escalating criminality in Sudan is further complicating aid delivery. She said, “When the humanitarians move from one area of control to another… people have been killed. There’s bandits. There is criminality. So the situation is very, very complex, which makes reaching the needed population extremely difficult.”
Rishmawi also discussed the devastating impact of the conflict on food security. She said,“Farmers are not able to farm their lands. They abandoned their land and there is no seeds to be planted as the water supplies is actually disrupted.”
Ethnic tensions have worsened, particularly in Darfur, where the Rapid Support Forces have mobilized Arab tribes. Rishmawi said, “What they have been doing… is targeting certain ethnic groups.” She called for a new framework to foster unity. “What is needed is a new social contract in Sudan, a new national dialog, a new social agreement that people can live together in harmony and respect and in dignity.”
